- I Know -
by Broken-Dictionary
Summary: "Hey, I really was going to come back." His hand gently tugged back on her shoulder, she hesitantly shrugged it off, "I know." "Then, where are you going?" [Short Story]


"Hey, I really was going to come back."

His hand gently tugged back on her shoulder, she hesitantly shrugged it off, "I know."

"Then, where are you going?"

The vibrant pink gem stopped in her tracks. She didn't know. Shaking her head, she replied, "Anywhere else."

"Spinel-"

"I'm a _stain_, Steven. All I do is make things worse! Aren't you scared I'll do something else- _huh_?! Did you think about that?!" She didn't mean to get angry, nor did she mean to swing her fist at him- one of which he effortlessly evaded.

"Spinel…"

In absolute frustration, she pulled at her hair to control herself. She hated him, and all he'd been doing is help- hell he saved her from the explosion _she_ caused. He was so forgiving and patient it was incomprehensible to Spinel.

She dropped to her knees, back still turned to the half human- half gem hybrid in an effort to block him out. She curled her knees up to her face and stared at the pink shards scattered across the beach. The curly haired hybrid hesitated before walking up to the troubled gem and sitting next to her, legs crossed. Spinel huffed and started drawing patterns in the soft sand.

The sound of the ocean almost loosened the tension between both the gem and hybrid as they started to calm down. Steven watched the way the foreign being moved her gloved finger through the sand; how she avoided any contact with the shattered glass and swirled circular patterns around each. He knew she was still suffering and she wouldn't let him do anything about it. Spinel felt his gaze shift from her hand to her face.

"I know you don't want to hear it, but you can't keep beating yourself up."

Although she refused to be comforted by these words, she couldn't help but listen. In an effort to distract herself from the overwhelming hurt, anger and sorrow she had been bottling up for years, she constructed a small pile of the pink shards.

"You may have made a few mistakes," Steven took a short breath, trying to word his sentence right, "but that's what happens. It doesn't matter, you can make a change."

For some reason, the end of his sentence hit Spinel like a sharp bullet, "No- no you're wrong!"

The hybrid was taken aback by her small outburst, but waited for reasoning before retaliating.

"I can't change like you, or Garnet, or Amethyst, or Bismuth, or- or _anyone_! When _you_ change, _you_ change for the better- when _I_ change, _I_ change for the worse!"

In an uncontrollable surge of rage, Spinel punched the pile of glass shards. She winced as they cut into her fist, "I'm just not enough_-_ not _good enough_… I was _not_ good enough for Pink, and now, _I'm not good enough for you_."

She put her hands to her face and tried to bite back the tears. Steven hated seeing others suffer, as he could relate. Spinel was a hard case for him. He had only known her for over a week- heck, she arrived on earth atop an injector with the sole purpose to destroy all life, _especially _Steven. He scooted closer to the pink gem and put an arm around her. She sniffled and lent into the hybrid, though it wasn't like she didn't _enjoy _the fact that he was trying to comfort her. It had been a long time since she had felt some love.

"You aren't a bad person."

"I tried to kill you."

"I know, but you didn't. You bettered yourself- something not even the others can do properly. But, above all, don't lie to yourself… You lie once, you lie twice, three times, four- it becomes a habit. You create a world where truth and lie are indistinguishable and you lose all respect. With having no respect, you stop loving."

Spinel sniffled, so Steven pulled her in closer, "I want to stop that from happening."

The pink gem let out a stuttered sigh, trying not to choke on her tears. She was showing weakness, something that would never have happened before. Maybe he was right, she _had_ changed.

Waves gently washed up onto the shore, occasionally spraying the two. Steven watched as the sun slowly descended below the horizon, enjoying the orange-purple sky laced with small clouds. The salty scent of seawater was calming to him, it was homely. Spinel pushed closer into the hybrid, to which he smirked.

"Although you've gotten better, you aren't done yet. Making friends here isn't going to be easy, nor is gaining the trust from the gang going to be. So, starting from today, you should work on becoming better."

"Yeah, I'll be a new gem," and, after almost a millennia, she smiled.

[A/N; This was made as a school assignment, if you're my teacher looking for plagirism... hi... :V]


End file.
